LGBT wedding in the Bavarian Alps by Wild Connections Photography

Intimate LGBT Winter Wedding In The Bavarian Alps

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It feels like forever ago that Jamie & Liz first got in touch about their wedding plans. When they first emailed me, they were nervous about coming out to complete strangers as an LGBT couple, as they weren’t sure how accepting people in Europe were with same-sex relationships. In their email they talked a little bit about themselves, and how they imagined their winter wedding day surrounded by mountains, ideally close to a ski resort since they both loved to hit the slopes together. I remember instantly writing back to them with a big HELL YES, I’d love to be your photographer. Anyone who imagines skiing as part of their wedding gets a huge high five from me! From the very first Skype call that we had, I knew that we’d get on like a house on fire. They way they described their dream wedding day to me, I knew it would be perfect. Their vision was to create a day inspired by all the things that they love, and oh my, did they pull it off.

Jamie & Liz’s Intimate LGBT Winter Wedding Near Neuschwanstein Castle

Jamie & Liz’s love story started in college, but not how you might think. An ex-girlfriend of Jamie mentioned a friend called Liz, and out of politeness, Jamie asked a few questions. One evening at an end-of-college bar crawl, Jamie saw a text on her ex’s phone from Liz about how hot she thought Jamie was. Naturally, Jamie decided she needed to find out who this girl was, and sent her a cheeky friend request on Facebook. They messaged each other for a bit, swapped numbers, and daily texts became nightly phone calls. After about two weeks, the knew they needed to meet, which was a challenge in itself as they lived about 7 hours from each other at that time, but they made it happen and spent a whole weekend getting to know each other. From that weekend, they knew they wanted to give things a go, and for the next two months, they would take it in turns driving to see each other every weekend. After two months they knew it was the real deal, and they decided to move in together in a new town. And the rest, as they say, is history!

When it came to the proposal, Jamie knew that Liz was going to propose on a trip to Europe that winter. The night it happened, they were visiting friends in Germany and had taken a trip to the Christmas markets. With the help of their friends to translate, Liz managed to get a car on the Ferris wheel just for the two of them. Of course, with all the hushed conversations, Jamie was pretty sure she knew exactly what was going on, but she played along anyway. And on the Ferris wheel overlooking the German Christmas markets, Liz asked Jamie to marry her.

While planning their wedding, Jamie & Liz knew they wanted something intimate and low-key. They wanted their wedding day to be about them rather than about trying to please other people, and since travel was a big part of their relationship, they wanted that to be a part of their wedding day too.

Since they got engaged in Germany, and they love being in the mountains, they decided that the Bavarian Alps would be the perfect place to have their winter wedding. Since both of them are huge lovers of literature, and Jamie is an English teacher, their ceremony venue couldn’t have been more perfect. They found a historic library in St Mang’s Abbey in the small town of Füssen in the Bavarian Alps, near the iconic Neuschwanstein Castle, and they invited their closest friends and family to travel to Germany to celebrate with them.

On the morning of their wedding, Jamie & Liz started by getting ready separately, but as both of them started to get nervous about the day ahead, the realised that they’d both feel better if they got ready together. So they did! Before their ceremony, we had time to escape for an hour to explore some of the surrounding area around Neuschwanstein Castle, where we found a beautiful frozen lake with stunning views back to the castle. I think Jamie & Liz could have stayed there all day and enjoyed the views, but we had to head over to the library for their ceremony.

After meeting everyone outside the venue for a quick glühwein to warm up, everyone headed inside for the ceremony, which was conducted by one of their best friends. Jamie & Liz’s vows to one another were based on their own promises but also drew from inspiration in their favourite literary works. They both talked about what marriage meant to them and had half the room in tears in the process.

After their ceremony, they celebrated with a quick mulled wine with their friends and family, but both Jamie & Liz really wanted to spend as much time as they could for the rest of the day going on their own private adventure. So they drank up and we headed off to explore some more. The next stop of the day was at Neuschwanstein castle itself. We started down by the crystal clear Alpsee, whose still waters reflected the mountains that surrounded them, then headed up to explore the grounds around the castle itself, stopping for another glühwein and some snacks on the way back down to the car.

As we lost the light at the castle, we drove back to the hotel and they met up with their friends and family once again for a big celebration dinner.

I usually hate likening things to Disney movies, because the whole Disney princess thing isn’t really my scene (shocking, I know!). It sounds so cliche, but everything about their winter wedding day was just magical. It felt like a modern-day Disney fairytale, where two incredibly amazing women stood in front of one another and promised to love each other unconditionally from that day forward, walking hand-in-hand through all of life’s adventures together, wherever they might lead them.

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Credits

Photographer – Wild Connections Photography
Planner – Peach Perfect Weddings
Hair & Makeup – Beauty by Jerrianne
Flowers – Rosen & Geschwister

 

Stay tuned for their after-wedding session on the ski slopes of Tyrol in Austria, coming soon to the blog!

 

Looking for inspiration and advice for planning an Elopement in the Bavarian Alps?

how to plan a wedding in the alps graphic Blog post with tips on how to plan a ski resort winter wedding in Europe.

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